How Is Grand Adventure Holidays

George Butterfield, at right, and Sidney Robinson, at left, founders of Butterfield & Robinson, lunch with friends in Germany, 1966.Credit
B&R

Biking- and walking-focused vacations might be common today, but when George Butterfield, 77, co-founded the active travel brand Butterfield & Robinson 50 years ago, they were practically unheard of. He started the Toronto-based company with his high school friend, Sidney Robinson, with the idea of offering biking trips for students around Europe.

In the 1980s, the pair dropped the student angle and decided to go after adults by selling biking and walking getaways emphasizing stays in small, upscale hotels and savoring local food, wine and culture. Today, B&R has over 400 group, private and self-guided trips a year to more than 80 countries but is still a family-run business. Mr. Butterfield is involved in the day-to-day operations and guides at least one trip a year, while his wife, Martha, helps with marketing. (Mr. Robinson is still a member of the company’s board but is no longer active in the daily enterprise.)

Following are edited excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Butterfield.

Q. How did you get the idea to start B&R?

A. I was practicing law in Toronto and got an itch to explore Europe. Sidney; Martha, who is Sidney’s sister; and I came up with a plan to go on the adventure by leading a summer trip for students. We took 43 of them on a 59-day odyssey through five countries. On rented bikes, we spent a week riding through Bavaria, from Munich to Innsbruck. We hiked in the Swiss Alps, explored the quays of Paris, visited galleries in Florence, enjoying great food and culture along the way.

From that first trip, how did the business evolve?

After a few years of only running student trips, we decided to offer an adult version, but no one signed up for it. After many attempts, B&R’s concept of high-end cycling and walking holidays finally caught on. What started as one trip — biking in the Loire Valley — became three, and after that, the growth was exponential.

Do you need to be super fit to go on active trips?

You do not have to be an athlete in any way, shape or form. We classify our trips according to how far you want to go each day and how challenging the terrain is. Also, in Europe we have electric-assist bikes.

But what if you do want a physically challenging trip?

Biking through Tuscany, Japan and the Camino de Santiago in Spain are some of our most challenging rides, while hiking the Incan ruins of Peru provides challenging hikes. And although the bulk of what we do is group trips, you can customize them to you. It’s not like our clients bike or walk all together with a leader waving a flag. They’re given route maps at the start of the day along with options for longer rides and walks and can move at their own pace. We have our vans along the way to pick them up if they need it, but basically, everyone meets for dinner.

Do your clients end up losing weight?

The feedback we get is that they don’t lose weight because they’re indulging in great food and wine, but they don’t gain either.

What’s next for B&R and for active travel in general?

The push for us is new destinations. France and Italy have always been the most popular, but we’ve got our eyes on places like Iran, Oman and Sri Lanka. Also, our self-guided trips have taken off. With these, we book your hotels and give you all the maps and gear you need and offer restaurant and sightseeing suggestions. And, since our trips usually involve stays in multiple hotels, we also transfer your luggage to each property. You have a local B&R employee available to you for anything you need but are pretty much on your own.

I think getaways like these are the future of active travel. They appeal to younger travelers and those who don’t want to be bound by a group and give you total flexibility.

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